hagiographer, Lorenzo Giacomini, was a native of Castelfiorentino born circa 1369. He entered into the Dominican order in Florence in 1383, and after acting as a lettore for many years in various convents, including those of the Roman and Lombard provinces, he was made bishop of Acaia in 1413 by Pope John XXII. It is thought to be shortly after this time, around 1420, that he wrote a new vita in deference to his native city and to his particular devotion to Verdiana. His account borrowed faithfully from Biagio, though Giacomini sought to enrich it with miracles and information on the cult and translations of Verdiana known from contemporary traditions and his own experience. It is this version, erroneously attributed to Bishop Attone of Pistoia, that appears in the Acta Sanctorum. Because of the two vitae, it is possible for scholars to compare Verdiana’s hagiographically “typical” life in Biagio’s earlier vita and the greater emphasis on Verdiana’s connection to the community of Castelfiorentino in Lorenzo Giacomini’s. See also Viridiana (name) Notes References Biagio. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Plut. 20.6, 41v-44r. “Vita sanctae viridianae” (c. 1340) Giacomini, Lorenzo. Acta Sanctorum. Feb. I, pp. 257–61. “Verdiana.” (c. 1420) Benvenuti, Anna. “Capi d’aglio e serpenti: Aspetti civici del culto di santa Verdiana di Castelfiorentino,” La Toscane et les Toscans autour de la Renaissance: cadres de vie, société, croyances: mélanges offerts à Charles-M. de La Roncière. Aix-en-Provence: Publications de l'Université de Provence, 1999. pp. 313–349. Benvenuti, Anna. “Mendicant Friars and Female Pinzochere in Tuscany: From Social Marginality to Models of Sanctity.” Women and Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. Ed. Daniel Bornstein and Roberto Rusconi. Trans. Margery J. Schneider. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. pp. 84–103. Del Re, Niccolò. “Verdiana.” Bibliotheca sanctorum. 12 vols., Rome: 1961-9., XIII, col. 1023-1027. Improta, Maria Cristina. La Chiesa di Santa Verdiana a Castelfiorentino. Castelfiorentino: Comune di Castelfiorentino, 1986. Wieben, Corinne. "Foster-Mother of Vipers: Episcopal Conflict and the Cult of Verdiana da Castelfiorentino." Languages of Power in Italy (1300–1600). Ed. Daniel Bornstein, Laura Gaffuri, and Brian J. Maxson. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2017. pp. 143–160. External links Saints Index: Verdiana Verdiana Santa Verdiana La Santa sotto chiave 1182 births 1242 deaths People from Castelfiorentino Italian saints 13th-century Christian saints 13th-century Italian women